Voices of Mexico no. 02

Presentation

We are mainly concerned with three subjects in this issue. The first is our econorruc and political relationship to the rest of the world. As we were closing this number, Mexico finally reached an agreement w1th its mternational creditors. Trus means that the ongoing interna! debate concerning payment of the foreign debt has temporarily quieted down. especially when compared to the storm of statements and pointsof view unleashed previous to the change-over ,n the Ministry of Finance last June, which we covered in our previous issue. Now the discussion seems to be centering on other points, such as whetherthe specific way in which the Mexican govern­ ment renegotiated the huge debt was the most suitable. VOICES contributes to this debate with an article by well-known economist lfigenia Martinez called ·' Facing the Present Crisis."
At the same time, the year carne to a clase with changes in severa! governorships and municipal elections in different parts of the country. Sorne of these elections -such was the case in Chihuahua, Durango and Oaxaca- stirred up national public opinion and even deserved certain international notoriety. We believe that once the most acute and decisive period in this process is past, it is our duty to provids critical and drspassionate analysis of recent.elections in Mexico. including aspects such as possible future trends in our political system. Besides the mtorrnatívs articles we present on voting in Oaxaca and Tlaxcala, we are including two essays that take a more in depth look at what is really happening in Mexican etections: "A Crying Need far Regional Movements" by ManuelVilla, and "Unfettered Democracy" by Silvia Gómez Tagle.